Comfort Kitchen Ware, Those Colored Stacking Pyrex Bowls

THINGS WE REMEMBER FROM HOME - THAT GIVE US A LITTLE COMFORT WHEN IT'S NEEDED

THOSE MULIT-COLORED PYREX BOWLS WERE ON THE TABLE EVERY SUNDAY - LEFTOVERS UNTIL WEDNESDAY

     I ACTUALLY GOT CHOKED UP IN AN ANTIQUE SHOP TODAY. THERE ON A BACK SHELF, WITH A WIDE ARRAY OF KITCHEN GADGETS AND COOKWARE, WERE THOSE WONDERFUL MULIT-COLORED PYREX BOWLS WE HAD IN OUR KITCHEN, FIRST AT 2138 HARRIS CRESCENT, IN BURLINGTON, BACK IN THE 1950'S, THEN ALL THE WAY UP TO BRACEBRIDGE, AND THE TINY KITCHEN AT 128 ALICE STREET FROM ABOUT 1966 TO 1974. THERE WERE A FEW OTHER PLACES WE DWELLED FOR AWHILE, BUT IT WAS AT THE BASS ROCK APARTMENTS, ON THE MUSKOKA RIVER, IN BRACEBRIDGE, WHEN I GOT MY LAST GLIMPSE OF THOSE FEW REMAINING COLORED GLASS BOWLS MY FATHER LOVED TO USE AT DINNER-TIME. (MY FATHER TOOK OVER AS HOUSEHOLD COOK WHEN HE RETIRED FROM THE LUMBER INDUSTRY) I'M NOT SURE WHEN THEY WERE MADE AVAILABLE, BUT I CAN NEVER REMEMBER NOT HAVING THEM ON THE DINNER TABLE WITH STEAMING VEGETABLES AND MASHED POTATOES, AND THAT MAGNIFICENT AROMATIC STUFFING, IF IT HAPPENED TO BE A TURKEY OR CHICKEN SUNDAY. THOSE BOWLS WERE ALMOST DAILY SYMBOLS OF BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNERS AND SNACKS. OF COURSE WE WERE A FAMILY THAT STRETCHED SUNDAY DINNER ATTRIBUTES UNTIL ABOUT WEDNESDAY, DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE BIRD OR ROAST OF BEEF. I LOOKED FORWARD TO LEFTOVERS JUST AS I DO IN THIS MODERN ERA……THAT SUZANNE HAS NEVER EMBRACE DAS FAR AS COOKERY GOES. SHE LIKES HER RETRO KITCHEN, AND THE TRADITIONS OF SCRATCH COOKING, AND CONVENIENCE FOODS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW. 

     ON THE LAST DAY AT MY PARENT'S APARTMENT, SHORTLY AFTER ED PASSED AWAY, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, SUZANNE WANTED TO KNOW IF I WANTED TO KEEP ANY OF THE REMAINING BOWLS FROM THE SET OF SIX OR SEVEN, SMALL TO LARGE, ALL COLORED DIFFERENTLY, THAT MERLE HAD STACKED ABOVE THE SINK. I THINK THERE MAY HAVE ONLY BEEN THREE BOWLS LEFT, AFTER THE OTHERS WERE BROKEN IN A VARIETY OF COOKERY MISHAPS, AND THEY WERE BADLY STAINED BY MANY YEARS OF ALMOST CONSTANT USE. YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO SAY AT THAT MOMENT, BECAUSE WE HAD PACKED UP SO MUCH STUFF, THAT MERLE AND ED HAD KEPT IN THAT SMALL THIRD FLOOR APARTMENT. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW WE WERE GOING TO STORE WHAT WE WANTED TO KEEP, AND THESE BOWLS WERE SO BADLY MARKED AND STAINED THAT I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS RIGHT TO DONATE THEM TO THE LOCAL THRIFT SHOP. WE SENT OVER AT LEAST TWENTY OR SO BOXES OF GOOD QUALITY HOUSEHOLD ITEMS, AND THAT WOULD HAVE PLEASED MY PARENTS. OUR OWN KITCHEN IS CURRENTLY JAMMED-FULL OF ALL KINDS OF HEIRLOOM PIECES, INCLUDING THE COOKBOOKS, MOSTLY FROM SUZANNE'S HOMESTEAD IN WINDERMERE, ON LAKE ROSSEAU. WE JUST DIDN'T NEED ANYTHING MORE, AND MOST OF THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD ITEMS WEREN'T OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE MUCH COLLECTABLE VALUE. THE BOWLS, IF THEY'D BEEN PRISTINE, WOULD HAVE HAD A VALUE, AS WE SAW TODAY IN THE SHOP, OF ABOUT $75.00 FOR THE GROUPING.

     I SUGGESTED SUZANNE TOSS THE DAMAGED BOWLS IN THE BOXES SLATED FOR THE LANDFILL SITE, AND YOU KNOW, AT THAT MOMENT, WE WERE ALL SO EXHAUSTED BY THE THREE WEEK TASK TO CLEAR-OUT THE APARTMENT, HAULING AWAY OVER TWO HUNDREDS BOXES, PLUS FIVE ROOMS OF FURNITURE. I FELT A PANG IN THE OLD HEART ABOUT THOSE COLORED BOWLS, BUT I WAS BEING PRAGMATIC, PRACTICAL AND STALWART ABOUT THE WHOLE ESTATE-CLEARING EXERCISE. IT HAD TO BE DONE. CLEARED OUT. WORKERS WERE COMING IN TO RE-DECORATE THE APARTMENT FOR FUTURE TENANTS. BUT FOR THE LAST FEW MOMENTS IN THE APARTMENT, SUZANNE AND I, AND OUR SONS ANDREW AND ROBERT, WANDERED ABOUT THE HOLLOW ROOMS, AS A QUIET MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO THE TWO CONTENTED PEOPLE, WHO LOVED THIS LITTLE PLACE ON THE RIVER……AND SO ENJOYED OUR GET-TOGETHERS FOR SPECIAL DINNERS AND OTHER MONUMENTAL OCCASIONS. EACH OF US HAD OUR OWN MEMORIES, WHICH WE SHARED AT A LUNCHEON THAT FOLLOWED TURNING IN THE KEYS. WHEN I STOPPED TO TAKE THAT LAST LOOK BACK THROUGH THE STILL OPEN DOOR, I COULD SO CLEARLY IMAGINE MY DAD SITTING IN THE CORNER BY THE BALCONY DOOR, SMILING AT HIS GRANDSONS SITTING BY HIS FEET, AND MERLE HUDDLED BENEATH AN AFGHAN, ON THE END OF THE COUCH, WATCHING TELEVISION; AS IF NOTHING HAD EVER HAPPENED TO DISRUPT THEIR ROUTINE. THEY HAD A SIMPLE LIFE, AND A PRETTY GOOD RETIREMENT TOGETHER, JUST BEING TOGETHER WITH A FEW FRILLS EARNED OVER A LIFETIME OF HARD WORK. WHEN I CLOSED THAT DOOR FOR THE LAST TIME, I WITHOUT PLANNING TO, INHALED DEEPLY AND CLOSED MY EYES, AS IF TO DRINK IT ALL IN……ONCE MORE…..AND HONESTLY, I SMELLED A SUNDAY ROAST BEEF, SIZZLING IN THE OVEN. IT WAS A SUNDAY, AND IT WAS DINNER TIME, WHEN WE LEFT THE APARTMENT FOR THE FINAL TIME. IT WAS AWFULLY HARD, AS I'M SURE MOST WOULD FEEL OR RECALL OF THEIR OWN FAMILIES, TO TURN THAT PAGE IN HISTORY….AND LEAVE THOSE HAUNTED EMPTY ROOMS FOR SOME OTHER FAMILY…….AND THEIR MAKING OF MEMORIES OVER TIME.

     FOR WHATEVER REASON, I DISMISSED THOSE BOWLS AS BEING IRRELEVANT AND A BURDEN ON ALREADY BURDENED PEOPLE. OUR HOUSE WAS JAMMED WITH MY PARENTS POSSESSIONS, JUST AS IT HAD BEEN SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER, WHEN SUZANNE'S FATHER DIED, AND HIS ESTATE HAD TO BE SETTLED. SO IT'S ENTIRELY TRUTHFUL TO SAY, WE DIDN'T NEED ONE MORE MIXING BOWL OR EVEN ONE MORE WOODEN SPOON TO HAVE A FULLY STOCKED COMMERCIAL KITCHEN……IN A MODEST BUNGALOW. EVER SINCE, WE'VE BEEN BUILDING COLLECTIONS FOR EACH LAD, FOR THEIR EVENTUAL FIRST HOMES, AND ONCE AGAIN, OUR PARENTS WOULD BE PLEASED TO KNOW THEIR POSSESSIONS WERE STAYING IN THE FAMILY. THE POOR DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, BECAUSE I KNOW BOTH BOYS ARE VERY SENTIMENTAL ABOUT THEIR GRANDPARENTS, AND WHAT THEY REMEMBER THEMSELVES, GROWING UP IN THOSE ENIVIRONS……SO TELLING THEM THEY WON'T FIT IN TO THE DECORATING THEME OF THE MATRIMONIAL DIGS WILL BE HARD TO TAKE.

THEY WERE JUST STACKING BOWLS AFTER ALL

     There's probably a therapist out there, reading this blog, assessing without even seeing me in person, that I am in great need of an office visit. If I can get misty-eyed about a stack of red, green, yellow, brown and orange kitchen bowls, something is off the rail….somewhere down the line. I don't need a therapist. I want those bowls. They always made me happy at dinner time, and it had to be the pleasing colors. First of all, and although I've explained this previously, I feel it's necessary to reiterate. For my entire childhood, and teenage years, until the day I took off for university, my parents lived pay cheque to pay cheque. They did a lot better when I moved out, that's for sure. We had very few frills in our apartments, except two original landscapes, that hang now in our livingroom, four or five uncomfortable upholstered chairs, a round coffee table, with a veneer top that Merle used to polish daily, and one of those chrome kitchen sets from the 1950's; and of course an old china cupboard she got at a yard sale one year. There were only modest bedroom furnishings, and in the kitchen, very few items including pots and pans. I knew my parents were of relatively low income, but everyone in our apartment building was working off the same grid. The pay cheque to pay cheque syndrome, so buying extra kitchen ware wasn't prudent. And these Pyrex bowls would last forever, and hold just about anything in the way of first-run, Sunday night vittles, and then they would be stuffed to overflowing, with foil fitted over top, into the refrigerator, so that for a few days, it looked like we were one of the most prosperous families in town.

     When I saw the stack of bowls today, all in near perfect condition, I thought about those relic, damaged pieces, leftover at my father's apartment, that I had handled a trillion times in childhood…..sneaking leftovers to make late night sandwiches. They had held macaroni and cheese, brussel sprouts, corn, beans, squash, turnip, gravy, left over roast beef, chicken and turkey…..our big three rotation for Sunday dinners; and when Merle or Ed set those colorful bowls on the dinner table…..on the nice clean table cloth on Sundays, I immediately cheered-up from any childhood funk I might have been in at the time. I don't know how many people are moved to smiles by the color of the kitchen bowls, when used for serving, but probably not many. For some reason, I felt they were kind of symbolic of our own struggle for survival, and it was often the case in our household, when either Ed or Merle had been laid off…..and there were many unhappy times, at the dinner hour, when benefitting from a little light-heartedness, because of bowl coloration seemed innocent fun. The conversation might have been heavy on those nights, but I concentrated on the bowls while I was eating….and looking for seconds and thirds. I suppose they were "happy bowls," and it bothered me for a whole year, that I had told Suzanne to toss out those odd family heirlooms, that I mistakenly thought didn't possess any of that "happy" aura anymore, I used to sense in their company.

     There are folks who would argue that you can't find happiness from inanimate objects like multicolored Pyrex bowls. As an antique dealer, collector, and nostalgia freak, I would debate to the contrary, that whatever turns your crank……short of criminal activity, is what you should pursue. Now I'm not likely to spend seventy dollars or so, replacing those bowls of once. I would like to collect them at yard sales and flea markets, which offer such kitchen wares for lesser prices. If I was looking to sell them I could afford to be a little more liberal with purchase price. Considering I would like to keep them for home use, I kind of have to shop frugally, which has always been our house rule. The business and home economics are separate entities. But I know now, that I would still get a happy buzz seeing those similar multicolored bowls on our dining room table. They weren't fancy but by golly were they ever price efficient, durable and ever-lasting apparently. For my family, on a tight budget, they needed articles like this that wouldn't let them down. So from the late 1950's, to the mid 2000's, the bowls, even though in reduced number, survived to carry out their kitchen duties. I'm impressed with Pyrex that's for sure.

     I know a lot of my mates, who get subtle, gentle comforts from heirloom pieces. Armchair critics may argue that this is regressive and foolish, to still, long after a demise, hang on to these articles as if they have some special power……the ability to inspire cheerfulness. In our house, we are surrounded by these heirloom pieces that always make us feel good, and we never over-analyze the prevailing situation……or delve into our psyches to see just how nuts we are…..that we can actually get a thrill out of grandmother's rocking chair, grandpa's reading chair, or great-grandmothers collection of pressed glass in the china cupboard. I won't ever feel stupid or trapped in the mourning process, because those colored bowls, of once, make me smile for no other reason…..than a rekindling of happy memories of our family working and living as prosperously as we could. I think maybe, it's the fact we met all our challenges, and they raised a family successfully, despite the shortfalls in economy, that these kitchen relics make me feel, all of a sudden, quite prosperous with the knowledge, they were part of our family culture…….as strange as this may read. They were just colored glass bowls. Utility kitchen materials. Yet socially, after hard days with lots of stresses, we set our table with pleasing colors, over the four seasons……and it was like an indoor flower garden, if I was to wax poetic. They got the job done. Those bowls helped us get through the days, weeks and years. That's right…..they were just bowls. Run of the mill kitchen utility items.

     I wiped away a wee tear, as I looked at those stacked glass bowls, wondering who had used these ones over their shelf-life, and what fine dinners they participated in from the 1950's onward. One day, I will hunt and gather a set for us modern day Curries to use, hopefully by next Christmas…..as I will always remember how elegantly those common, work-a-day bowls looked against the decorated tree, with lights blazing, and us wearing those paper hats found in the wrappers of festive crackers on Christmas day. I bet you have some fond memories yourself of similarly curious inanimate objects, from your own family legacy, that you'd like to see, and hold once more. It's part and parcel of being a collector at heart…..if nothing else.

     Many thanks for visiting today…..with me in this sentimental spiral of family memories. Regardless what the cynics claim is impossible, I know differently. I can very much content myself, in the company of inanimate objects from the past. See you again soon.